NEW DELHI: Hundreds in the national capital have been serving food to homeless or economically weaker sections of the society, who are jobless due to nation-wide lockdown over coronavirus scare. However, there are a few who have walked an extra mile as far as charity is concerned - they are cooking themselves besides generously donating for coronavirus relief efforts.
Virendra Sachdeva, a resident of Mayur Vihar, has been running a kitchen since March 24, which serves 1,500-2,000 people every day, along with his two friends—Rajeev Kohli and Vijender Dhama.
“We cook food ourselves and keep changing the menu every day following the request by beneficiaries especially children from slum clusters. On Hanuman Jayanti, desi-ghee (pure ghee) halwa was served and today, matar-paneer was specially cooked on their demand,” said Sachdeva, also a member of Good Governance Cell of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Similarly, Atif Rasheed, member of National Minority Commission (NMC) and his friends, his friends, daily prepare food for about 400 persons living in Okhla and its vicinity such as Noor Nagar, Ghaffar Manzil, and Jamia Millia Islamia.
They have divided themselves in two sub-groups.
Rasheed and two others prepare food and the remaining five have been entrusted with the responsibility of home delivery of food packets.
“We don’t invite people to our kitchen but do doorstep delivery because some of them don’t want to accept relief in public due to social stigma. This system was also put in place to maintain social distancing. One person has been tasked to take an order over the phone and prepare an area-wise list for distribution. Three of us set out on their two-wheelers to deliver food,” said Rasheed.
Considering the religious belief of certain sections of the society, his team prefers to serve only vegetarian food, which is also being sent to university students.